The dearth in striking quality at Arsenal is apparent when one player who was sold for greener pastures (Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City) and another widely regarded to have been a flop (Marouane Chamakh) both out-performed primary North London gun Olivier Giroud at their current respective clubs; Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace.

Team

Pos

% of Shots on Target

Goals % per Shots

Poss Lost

Pass Acc

Mins/ Chance

Apps

Mins

Chamakh

Palace

FW

58.8%

29.4%

13.4

71.1%

67.9

32

2,308

Adebayor

Spurs

FW

52.3%

25.0%

15.1

83.1%

53.2

21

1,808

Giroud

Arsenal

FW

33.9%

14.3%

16.8

68.9%

83.3

36

3,081

Out of the three players listed, it is Chamakh who was most accurate (59% of his shots hit the target) and most efficient when it came to goals scored from his strike attempts (29% of his shots turn into goals) using data from the most recent Premier League campaign.

Spurs hotshot Adebayor had the highest passing accuracy (83%) and was also the most creative, as he set up a goal-scoring chance for a team-mate once every 53 minutes he was on the field.

Giroud, though, is not only the least effective when it comes to possession - losing the ball due to either dispossession by an opponent or wasteful passing (16.8 times per appearance) but he also comes out worst in every single one of the five key statistical areas when compared to two of his former Gunners.

A Premier League goal haul of 16 has helped mask over Giroud's obvious deficiencies, yet if he was more precise with his shooting he could have returned a far higher figure - something a team with the ambitions of Arsenal should be addressing in the summer window if they are to recreate the prolific touch enjoyed by players at rival clubs such as Liverpool asset Luis Suarez and Manchester City golden-boy Sergio Aguero.

Arsenal have been linked with a big-money striking recruitment as the club have been linked with making moves for AC Milan misfit Mario Balotelli (Daily Mail), Real Madrid super-sub Alvaro Morata and Queens Park Rangers hit-man Loic Remy.